I have not read all your replies, so please forgive me if I'm repeating something. My ds (4 next week) also needs speech help, and we have chosen to pursue it through the school district. My POV is that the earlier we can get help, the less help he may need later. He had about 3 months of home speech therapy before he turned 3, then they transition to a preschool program. So last year he attended preschool three days a week, where a speech therapist worked with him once a week. It was free for us because he "qualified" with his speech delay. We will continue to send him to preschool next year. Do I know for sure if the speech therapy is helping him? No. He is making improvements, but it may be part of his normal development. But hey--it's free preschool, and he enjoys it. That's good enough for now. However, I did ask--and it was confirmed--that starting in K, he would have to be enrolled in school to receive speech help. I don't know what we'll do at that point; it will probably depend on the kind of progress he makes over the next year. It may be possible to do some kind of dual-enrollment (home and PS) in order for him to receive speech therapy, but I don't know if I'm up for that. I will burn that bridge when I get there!

I have taught 4 children to read with 100 EZ. I agree with the previous poster; by about lesson 60, they were ready to read other books. It's a great day when they realize, "Hey! I know what words in OTHER books say, too!" My children have been between 4.5 and 5.5 when I used 100 EZ--it depended greatly on their readiness and motivation. Some times we tried it for a while, and then put it aside if it was too frustrating. Once they "got" it, though, they often wanted to double up on lessons--near the end of the book, there are a lot of two-part stories--and they never wanted to wait an extra day to find out how the story ended! HTH Korrie

Here is another site for bulk food storage items: http://honeyvillegrain.com and this is the LDS church's website, which also includes a food storage calculator: http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,1706-1,00.html If you look at the right side of the page, there will be a link to an order form for home storage supplies. You do not have to be LDS to order food storage items, or to use the dry pack cannery facilities.

Ours is just over $900/month for a 3000 sq. ft. house. We have been in it for 6 years. When we bought it, we had a "piggyback" mortgage...one for 80%, and one for 15%. We were able to pay off the smaller mortgage last year, which dropped our payments from $1100 to $900.

It is excellent, and my personal opinion is that it is Orson Scott Card's best book. I've read it several times...might be time to read it again!

I will add another vote for the White Mountain ice cream freezer, and I believe most on-line reviews give this one the best rating. I grew up on hand-cranked ice cream...and my parents are die-hard hand-crankers. Mostly that was because electric freezers had wimpy motors, and quit before the ice cream was hard enough. However, my parents now own a 6 qt. electric White Mountain, and it meets even their exacting standards! Several of us kids also have electric White Mountains, and we love ours! But just remember, *no* ice cream freezer can make up for skimping on ingredients! Use lots of eggs and lots of cream! Making homemade ice cream is always a special occasion!

...anyone? ...anyone?

Next year I will have a 7th grader and a 5th grader doing Early Modern history. I am SO excited to work through the formal reading list--but I am at a loss as to how to plan for the books. Do you have any hints/clues as to how much time I should allow for books to be read? Or any clues as to when, in the progression of history, the formal-reading-list books should be placed? Thanks! Korrie

I have ordered an Apologia elementary kit before, and it was great! I hatehatehate having to search around (or worse, BUY) items to do projects. It was wonderful to have everything already assembled and ready to go. I think their prices were reasonable, too. I think it's a great business, and I wouldn't hesitate to order any lab kit from them again.

My 12yo dd is "catching up" in Logic (so to speak). She has been doing MindBenders puzzles, and she will probably have worked through all the "B" level books by the end of the summer. I have planned to start working through Critical Thinking next year (grade 7). How do you do this with your child? Read it together, or read it apart, then discuss? Any other options? In addition, my 10 yo ds will be in 5th grade next year. He has worked all the MindBenders along with his sister. Is he too young for Critical Thinking? Have any of you combined children like this? Thanks for any help! Korrie

You could try this: get the test booklet for grade 5, and have your child take the tests before she studies the material (or you could have her work through the chapter reviews). If she passes, skip that chapter, and take the next chapter's test. Even if she doesn't "pass" the test, you may find that she passes certain parts of the chapter, and you can skim over those. My dd did R&S 5 in what would have been our 4th grade, then went to public school for 5th and part of 6th. I brought her home in March, and we basically had to start at the beginning of R&S 6--she hadn't progressed in public school. R&S is VERY thorough!!

If you are using an older version of Saxon, the recommendation is to skip 8/7 and do Algebra 1/2. The current version recommendation is to do 8/7 and skip 1/2, moving straight to Algebra 1 in the 8th grade. In either case, doing both 8/7 and Algebra 1/2 is only recommended if your child needs the extra practice. If it were me (and it almost was, except I decided not to do Saxon after all), I would go the cheaper route and use an older version of Algebra 1/2 rather than paying the higher price for the latest version of 8/7. Good luck!

I grew up with the name "Pudding Delight" for that one.

I have used R&S grammar levels 3-6 for two children. I don't find it difficult to teach--in fact, I would say that for levels 3-5 my children have been able to do quite a bit of it on their own. I really never used the teacher's manual until this year--some of level 6 is tricky for me! That being said, I *wish* I had paid more attention to the teacher's manuals before. They have some great explanations and exercises in them. Even if your son is shaky in grammar, I wouldn't go all the way back to level 3. Since you already have level 4, you could try him on that and see how he does. If you compare the books side by side (at least the levels I have), they basically have the same material covered in the same chapters from year to year--the depth of coverage just changes. As for how difficult the later levels are--I have done some "hanging out" on the high school board, and there are some people there who suggest dropping the formal study of grammar after 8th grade. At this point, I am thinking of doing the same thing. R&S is a *very* thorough program, and I think the foundation we will get by 8th grade will be plenty. We will spend the high school years focusing more on writing. Of course, that is all subject to change in the future!

I looked through the experiments this morning, and I have not noticed any requirements for hard-to-find things. I think the most unusual was for glucose tablets from the pharmacy. Other than that, you may have to provide things like vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, soap, or liquid stain remover. One "pet peeve" about the manual is that it doesn't give a clear list of required ingredients at the beginning of each experiment--you have to read through it. It does include things like pipets, test tubes, safety goggles and even a little burner.

I ordered mine from "Shopatron" at http://www.shopatron.com/product/part_number=644512X/272.0 The price was $77.75 (plus $10.95 shipping) because the kit had a "missing or damaged kit box". It arrived today, and it all looks great! The two inner trays are completely sealed, and the instruction manual is perfect. I am happy to do without a kit box in order to save $40+! Just thought I'd share in case anyone else is looking to buy. :001_smile:

Ooohhhh, yeah! We returned to homeschooling in March after a year-and-a-half hiatus. I've been scrambling to "catch up" the last few months so we'll be ready to start fresh in the fall (or late summer...) I've had such fun buying new curriculum, reading the boards again, fretting over the curriculum I just bought...etc! Can't wait!

In no particular order: I've done some page-by-page comparison with the 2nd edition and the 3rd edition, mainly in the science recommendations for logic stage. In the 2nd edition, it seemed as if you did the book work first, then chose an experiment to complement that. The 3rd edition seems more experiment-driven, with bookwork afterward to complement the experiment! I liked that. We have never successfully "done" science, but we're giving it a shot again for next year! RightStart Math was mentioned for the grammar stage--I was pleased to see that. In general, I thought there were more recommendations for subject curricula than in the past. In some ways, that can be confusing--but in others, it frees you up a bit to pick and choose what works without feeling guilty about it! The logic recommendations changed for logic stage--from Introductory Logic to Traditional Logic. I didn't like IL, and I haven't looked at TL yet...but I wish there was a recommendation for a more sectarian logic program, like there is for some of the other subjects (I don't like logic, of all things, mixing with faith). Maybe that's because it isn't to be found?? There is more instruction on outlining in the book--that's very good. As for dislikes: I noticed the thinner paper, too! It's not a cheap book. I wish they hadn't skimped on materials.

I've ordered the kid's meal at Chik-Fil-A a couple of times. When the server sees I am alone, he asks me if I would rather have a bigger drink than a toy. YES!! I love that. (Besides, they have really good lemonade!)

We didn't talk to them too much about the insurance side of things, but they were *sure* they could help us pay off our mortgage earlier. And the thing is, they show you all these numbers that make it LOOK so good! At the same time, your brain is telling you, "How can this work when they're charging a higher interest rate?" Do your homework (there are a lot of sites on the Internet), and you'll find out that being disciplined to pay ahead on your current mortgage will be a lot better than their method. I agree with making it a short meeting. But even if they hook you with something that sounds good, make sure not to agree to anything right then, and study it out on your own afterward.

Oh my goodness. Thank you for reminding me to count my blessings! I pay $8/half-hour for weekly lessons for each of two children, and thinking of adding a 3rd next fall was making my pocketbook cringe. I am in Utah. I know prices will vary considerable depending on your location.

I'm in Clearfield. We've returned to homeschooling after a year-and-a-half hiatus. We'll be at the UHEA convention next week; I'm excited to go! Korrie (with dd12, ds10, ds7, dd5, ds3, dd1)

I've never used A; I've started my kids directly with B. I think you should be just fine.

Please understand I am not trying to be inflammatory, or gruesome, or any such thing--but last fall I was hit head-on by a texting teenager while I was at a complete stop, waiting to make a turn. It shattered my right wrist, and I will never recover full use of my wrist or hand. If it would help your discussions with your teenager to see pictures of an actual injury caused by another teenager being distracted "just for a few seconds" to make a text, PM me and I will e-mail them to you. ~Korrie

Just wanted to say "thanks" for your good wishes. We didn't purchase the car in a private sale, but from a dealer. They provided us with a CarFax report, which did not show any accidents. That, legally, should constitute a "material misrepresentation of fact." (I have since learned that CarFax reports are not often worth the paper they are printed on!) There are a whole lot of other fishy things that went on as well (for example, they did not provide us with the safety inspection certificate, and lied to us about where it was done). My BIL, who is an attorney in another state, told us that small claims is probably our best option, and I trust him, but it still makes me very nervous. I look at it this way...we have already paid out the money for all the car repairs. It's gone. It cost another $100 to file the small claims suit. If we lose, they can't take anything more away from us. If we win, it will have been worth it.